The present invention relates to firefighting helmets and, more particularly, to firefighting helmets fitted with protective face shields pivotable to an up or down position.
People whose employment subjects them to physical hazards often are required to wear protective headgear. For example, people employed as lumberjacks may be required to wear headgear such as that shown in Palmaer U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,694. That headgear includes a protective helmet having a brim projecting from a generally dome-shaped helmet body, a face shield in the form of an arcuate screen, and a pair of hinges that provide a pivot connection between the screen and the helmet body. While the screen conforms generally to the contour of the bill of the helmet, there is no physical connection between the screen and helmet body, except for the hinges.
The hinges each include pairs of link arms which are attached at one end to the screen and at an opposite end to a hinge plate that, in turn, is attached to the helmet. When the screen is pivoted upwardly, the arms bind against each other to define an upper limit of travel for the screen. Similarly, when the screen is pivoted downwardly, the link arms again bind against each other to define a lower limit of travel in which the screen substantially covers the face of a wearer of the helmet.
However effective such helmet designs are in the lumber and related industries, other professions, such as fire fighting, have hazards which are unique to that profession and for which such helmets as shown in the Palmaer patent may not provide adequate protection. In the fire fighting profession, a fire fighter may be required to enter a structure with which he is unfamiliar and which has been damaged substantially by fire. Consequently, there may be debris which project downwardly and sidewardly into the path taken by the fire fighter in the structure. If the firefighter is wearing a helmet in which the face shield projects above the top of the helmet when in an up or raised position, the shield may catch upon the projecting debris and cause the fire fighter's helmet and head to jerk backward. Debris projecting sidewardly into the path of the fire fighter may catch on the hinge mechanisms which, as in the Palmaer device, project well beyond the brim of the helmet. Furthermore, in the wet working environment of a fire fighter, the helmet is frequently doused with large quantities of water which run down the sides of the helmet and may seep through any gap between the brim and upper edge of the face shield. There, it may flow downwardly on the inside surface of the face shield and blur the fire fighter's vision through the shield.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fire fighter helmet which is specially designed to protect against hazards which are unique to the firefighting profession. In particular, such a helmet should minimize the likelihood of a raised face shield catching on an overhead projection, and minimize the likelihood of the face shield hinges catching on sidewardly projecting debris. Furthermore, there is a need for a fire fighter helmet which minimizes the likelihood of water flowing down the inside of the face shield to blur the vision of the wearer. There is also a need for a fire fighter helmet in which a hinge mechanism positively holds the face shield either in an up or down position, so that the likelihood of the face shield inadvertently pivoting from either of those positions is minimized.